Spiced Peaches

For me, this is an absolute Christmas/holiday must and, as with so many good things in my life, comes to me from my sister-in-arms, Hettie[ Potter. I've used bottled peaches, I've used tinned peaches and it honestly doesn't matter which, but I'm afraid you have to resist the healthier peaches tinned in fruit juice rather than syrup. If you can find only slices, not halves, so be it. This is a beautiful condiment to eat with roast ham, hot or cold, and I love it with cheese, too. It makes the kitchen feel like a proper Christmas/holiday kitchen - and it's a very easy present to whip up for people, too, beautiful in old-fashioned glass jars.]

Directions

Empty the cans of peaches into a saucepan with their syrup. Add the vinegar, cinnamon, sliced ginger, chiles, salt, whole peppercorns and cloves. Bring the pan to the boil, and let boil for a minute or so then turn off the heat and leave it in the pan to keep warm.

Serve the peaches with a hot ham letting people take a peach half and some of the spiced juice. Any leftovers can (and should) be stored in a jar and refrigerated and then eaten cold with cold ham.